United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today appointed former United States President George Herbert Walker Bush as his Special Envoy for the South Asian Earthquake Disaster, representing the UN system in the national and international response to the destruction of 8 October.
He will also lead the Organization's efforts to sustain international political will to support humanitarian, medium-term and long-term rehabilitation, reconstruction and risk reduction, a UN spokesman said today.
Former President Bush, along with his successor, former President Bill Clinton, were named by President George W. Bush to lead a private fundraising effort in the US in the aftermath of the Indian Ocean tsunami, after which Mr. Clinton became the UN's Special Envoy for regions affected by that disaster.
The devastating 7.6 magnitude earthquake on the Richter scale that struck South Asia on 8 October killed more than 73,000 people in Pakistan and 1,300 in India. An additional 69,000 people in Pakistan were injured as a result of the quake.
The Secretary-General will personally introduce former President Bush in his new capacity this afternoon.